Meet Cohort #2 and #3 of our Policy Managers Intensive

We’ve just wrapped up our final cohort of the Policy Managers Intensive for 2025.

In developing this training, we considered the three key skills required for Policy Managers, as being:

• stepping back and seeing the policy landscape,
• connecting with people and making the case for change, and
• leading a team and turning strategy into action.

With each cohort, we want to celebrate the people who are part of the Intensive.

Meet some of the people from our second and third cohorts.

Natasha Abrahams, Strategy and Government Relations Manager, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE)

Natasha Abrahams is a policy and government relations professional nearing a decade of experience leading impactful advocacy, campaigns and projects across technology, science and higher education.

Sally Cameron, Senior Law Reform Officer, Environmental Justice Australia

Sally Cameron has worked for community sector organisations, state government, international community organisations and UN agencies for more than 30 years.

That work has included numerous stints in community legal centres including Women’s Legal Service (Qld), Kingsford Legal Centre, and Welfare Rights Centre, where she worked as a caseworker and later as the communications and community engagement lead.

Sally has strong policy analysis skills, and is the author of numerous reports used to campaign for law reform. Her day-to-day work is focussed on identifying social security policy failures and advocating for reform on behalf of EJA’s 22 community legal centre members. She most recently managed staff drafting the Social Security for Women Outside our Cities report.

Honae Cuffe, Policy Director, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia

Dr Honae Cuffe is the Policy Director at the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Honae has worked across academia, government and the not-for-profit sectors, where she has honed her enthusiasm for and expertise in collaborative projects for evidence-informed policy and advice that deliver better outcomes for the Australian public.

She holds a PhD in History and has published widely on Australian history, public policy, research pedagogy and bridging the research-practice gap.

Anushe Khan, Project Coordinator, Migrant and Refugee Women’s Health

Anushe Khan leads the Migrant and Refugee Women’s Health work at Women’s Health Matters. Before joining WHM, Anushe worked in state and national peak bodies, as well as small community organisations across Melbourne and Canberra, advocating for better health outcomes and access for multicultural and multilingual communities.

Leveraging the insights gained from her work and the lived expertise of the migrant and refugee women who so generously share their knowledge and experiences, she hopes to continue strengthening WHM’s advocacy on improving health access and system responsiveness within the ACT and beyond.

Gemma Killen, Director – National Women’s Equality, Working with Women Alliance

Dr Gemma Killen is the Director of the National Women’s Equality portfolio of the Working with Women Alliance – one of the five federally funded National Women’s Alliances. The NWEA works brings together expertise and sector experience to provide advice to Government on economic equality and women’s leadership.

Gemma is a passionate queer and feminist researcher and social policy expert. She has led teams in the not-for-profit sector and academia advocating on a broad range of topics including gender equity, justice reform, poverty and reproductive rights.

Joanna Le, Co-Founder, Friends of Really Excellent Dentistry (FRED)

Joanna Le is a strategic communication, community engagement, and funding development professional with 20 years experience in the government and not-for-profit sectors.

Throughout her career Joanna has led national campaigns on preventing alcohol harm and family and domestic violence, partnerships to support women’s leadership programs, and designed business plans and communication strategies to launch innovative affordable housing solutions and digital health resources.

Joanna is a former Board Director of the Women’s Legal Centre ACT and Region, YWCA Canberra and the Youth Coalition of the ACT. She holds a Masters of Strategic Communication from the University of Canberra, a Bachelor of Digital Media from the University of New South Wales and a Certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy from the Harvard Business School.

Livia Stanton, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer, DV NSW

Livia Stanton is the Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer at Domestic Violence NSW. Livia has worked across a variety of policy and front-line direct DFV service provision roles. Livia manages the portfolios of housing and multicultural communities and is passionate about creating change through advocacy to improve the lives of all women and children experiencing DFV.

Livia works to improve policy responses and investment in the frontline service system, so that everyone has the support they need and a safe place to live. Prior experience includes managing the Southern Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service, providing support to women and their children after police attended a DFV incident, women’s DFV refuge case management support, and other direct client support roles in the social services sector.

Kristy Tass, Policy and Advocacy Lead, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education

Kristy Tass works in communications and advocacy to reduce alcohol harm across Australia alongside the team at the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE). Kristy is committed in both her work life and personal life to destigmatising social issues and humanising injustice.

Kristy has spent the last 14 years working in the community service sector leading strategic communications, fundraising, media, marketing, advocacy and events.

Shannon White, National Policy and Advocacy Lead, MYAN Australia

Shannon White is a skilled research, policy, and advocacy professional who has worked in the humanitarian, human rights, and migration sectors for over 15 years in a range of local, national and international roles.

Shannon currently is the National Policy and Advocacy lead at MYAN Australia.

The power of community drives Shannon in all she does. She firmly believes in the power of collective action to create lasting change and is particularly passionate about the role that youth can play in transforming traditional decision-making spaces.

To find out more about future cohorts of our Policy Managers Intensive, visit our training page.

13 November 2025